Week 2 was one of the more unusual weeks in the NFL where multiple teams completed almost impossible comebacks. Arizona came back from being down 23-0 in the third quarter and rallied behind a great comeback from Kyler Murray in the fourth quarter that consisted of two two-point conversions and an overtime fumble recovery for a touchdown. Not to be outdone, the New York Jets were losing 30-17 with just over two minutes left in the fourth quarter. After the Joe Flacco-led Jets came firing in the fourth quarter and scored a fast touchdown with under two minutes left, they recovered an on-side kick and Flacco threw the game winning touchdown to Garrett Wilson who had a breakout performance in just his second game in the league. Maybe the most remarkable come from behind victory belonged to the Miami Dolphins who were losing 35-14 at the start of the fourth quarter; a game where you could pretty much change the channel because it was one sided. But some late game heroics from Tua, Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle launched a series of fourth quarter fantasy performances for the ages and the Dolphins won 42-38. Given all the great comebacks in Week 2, this inspired me to take a different perspective on an annual favorite boom or bust column and look at a couple of players who are having a great resurgence in their career after a few years of injuries or sub-par play.
Carson Wentz
Carson Wentz is currently QB5 on the year. Wentz has posted monstrous Week 1 and 2 performances of 29.7 and 30.7 points against the Jaguars and Lions, respectively. Given the soft matchups in the first two weeks, we will see Wentz tested in Weeks 3 and 4 against a tough Philadelphia and Dallas defense. What Wentz has going for him is the offense has a lot of weapons in the receiving game: Terry McLaurin, Jahan Dotson and Curtis Samuel. Dotson and Samuel have both been more impressive than McLaurin so far this season. Dotson has been one of the most impressive rookie receivers this season already grabbing three touchdowns in the first two weeks which shows you should always invest in high draft pedigree at the position for fantasy rookies. Curtis Samuel was a heavily sought free agent combo RB/WR and operates as a Deebo Samuel-lite in his versatility across the formation. Accounting for the strong weapons, it’s hard to discount Wentz until we see how this team is tested against stronger defenses.
Saquon Barkley
Saquon Barkley is currently RB4 on the year. After a couple of injury-plagued seasons, Barkley finally entered the season healthy and was discounted in the draft but is paying it off with first round value. Barkley is currently leading the league with 236 yards on the ground and even more impressive is he has 154 of those yards after contact. Barkley looks fresh, is active in the receiving game and cedes almost no work to any backups (ranked #2 in the league on route share amongst all running backs, and his 83.5% snap count is ranked #2 in the entire league behind only McCaffrey). It’s safe to say Barkley is back, explosive and primed for a top 5 finish if he remains healthy.
Michael Thomas
Michael Thomas is currently WR8 on the year. Unrelated but I saw an impressive stat that his rookie teammate Chris Olave had 334 air yards on targets from Jameis Winston. This offense is going to let it fly and Winston will target downfield often. Despite not ranking inside the top 10 on targets or yards (typically stats that correlate to success as a fantasy receiver), Thomas’ value is kept high by touchdowns. Thomas has converted all three of his redzone targets into touchdowns. Thomas has surprisingly only taken 69% of team snaps which is low for an elite receiver and I have to imagine that is because of the team integrating him back into the game slowly after two injury-filled years. As the snaps and routes run go up, we can expect to see the targets and yards to rack up and Thomas could be poised for another elite finish. Unlike Barkley, this doesn’t rely on Thomas staying healthy but rather getting healthier and staying at that level in the middle of the NFL season.
Jared Goff
Jared Goff is currently QB8 on the year. The Detroit Lions have been one of the funner teams to watch especially after investing in their story on Hard Knocks. One of the most surprising stats I’ve seen is the Lions are leading the league in rushing average (7.2 yards per carry) and even more impressive is the running backs are averaging nearly 3.8 yards before contact. What this tells me is the offensive line is dominant and mauling defenders at the point of contact giving great opportunities to Swift and Williams. As the running game opens up passing opportunities, Goff has flourished as a passer and the Lions as a team are ranked 4th in the league for total offense (yards). Not to state the obvious but another key factor in quarterbacks reaching their top value is the emergence of an elite receiving option who is winning his routes and is tilting the defense…and that weapon’s name is Amon’Ra St. Brown. With a decent supporting cast of Hockensen and DJ Chark (and don’t forget the rookie Jameson Williams who will stretch the field as a burner with elite draft pedigree), this offense may help elevate Goff to a career year as a passer.
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